ILYA BRYZGALOV WILL GET OFF TO A QUICK START

Daniel Dobish, Senior WriterJanuary 19, 2013

Happy New Year, everyone! And I don’t mean 2013. This greeting is about four months late, but better late than never. It’s time for the opening of the 2013 National Hockey League season after another contentious lockout between players and owners. Luckily, for fantasy fans and those who are die-hard followers of the sport, we didn’t lose another full season.

Ilya Bryzgalov and the Flyers have six games in the first scoring period. Photo Credit: Bob Fina

So let’s light this candle. Training camps have already come and gone, and it’s time for the 48-game condensed schedule to begin. And in the first scoring period, which consists of nine days (Jan. 19-27), it is a very good idea to start all of your Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues. Those three teams will have six games in the first nine days of the season. If you’re in a cumulative league, that is especially pleasing. Be careful with the goaltenders, however, as it is likely that Blackhawks G Corey Crawford, Flyers G Ilya Bryzgalov and G Jaroslav Halak start just four of those six games. Still, that’s not bad, and it could mean a quick start for Fantasy owners, especially in the case of Bryzgalov. Crawford and the ‘Hawks have a little tougher road to hoe in the first period, facing the defending Stanley Cup champ Los Angeles Kings in Staples Center Saturday, as well as dates with the Phoenix Coyotes and Dallas Stars. The Blackhawks get a little relief against the Columbus Blue Jackets later on, but it still could be an especially long start for them.

Detroit Red Wings W Todd Bertuzzi (groin, illness) is not only battling a groin injury suffered in practice late last week, but he is apparently under the weather, too, and battling dehydration. Head coach Mike Babcock told The Detroit News that the veteran will receive intravenous fluids, and re-join the team sometime over the weekend. It appears he’ll miss the opener, so that would leave him with four games in the first scoring period. He is a low-end Fantasy forward as it is, so it is probably best to keep him reserved in all formats for Week 1.

Philadelphia Flyers C Daniel Briere (wrist) recently admitted to not being able to hold a stick and shoot, as his wrist pain remains pretty unbearable. As such, he is not expected to play in either of the weekend games against Pittsburgh Saturday, or at Buffalo Sunday. Keep him reserved in all weekly formats, and keep a close eye on Twitter for daily league information. Center is a fairly deep position in most standard leagues, so it shouldn’t be a problem to find an alternate at this early juncture.

Pittsburgh Penguins C Sidney Crosby (concussion) missed nearly all of the 2011-12 season due to concussion, and post-concussion syndrome, but he appears to be back to his former self, and the lengthy lockout and subsequent extra rest should have him back to normal. If your league has still yet to draft, target Crosby anywhere from the third pick to the 10th pick overall. It will always be in the back of Fantasy owners’ heads about his injury past, but when he is on the ice, he is one of the best, if not the best, in the league. Sid the Kid will be skating on a line with Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz, so he’ll help make them into valuable Fantasy assets, as long as he is healthy. Crosby will also be part of the team’s top six penalty-killing forwards, and he’ll take faceoffs from the right circle.

Edmonton Oilers G Nikolai Khabibulin (hip) will begin the season on the Injured Reserve list, as he is slow to recover from offseason hip surgery. With the ‘Bulin Wall’ on the shelf, the Oilers will have Devan Dubnyk as their primary backstop, and G Yann Danis spelling him on occasion. Dubnyk has the tools to be a Top 20 Fantasy netminder, and the Oilers offense should be much improved to help him to some wins.

SLAP SHOTS

If you’re looking to do some last-minute shopping before putting the final touches on your Fantasy roster for Week 1, check out Dallas Stars W Tom Wandell. He has been serving as a top-six forward, skating alongside veterans Michael Ryder and Ray Whitney on the second scoring line. He is taking the place of unsigned W Jamie Benn. Wandell’s value might be short term if Benn’s contract situation is resolved sooner rather than later, but he is worth a look. … Detroit Red Wings C Damien Brunner is expected to skate with C Pavel Datsyuk and W Henrik Zetterberg on the team’s top scoring unit. If the Swiss standout can stick on the top line, he has the chance to post about 35-40 points in his initial NHL campaign. As such, he should be treated as a No. 3 center with upside. … The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is reporting that LWs Eric Tangradi and Tanner Glass could split time on a line with C Evgeni Malkin and RW James Neal. Tangradi would skate with Malkin and Neal when the team is tied or trailing, while Glass would take his spot when protecting a lead, especially in the third period. As such, both would have decent Fantasy appeal skating with two top-notch forwards, but temper expectations somewhat since they’ll be moved around or having limited time on ice with the platoon-type situation.

Daniel joined the RotoExperts team in 2010, and has contributed columns on anything from all of the four major sports, as well as Golf, NASCAR, Soccer and Mixed Martial Arts. Daniel is a two-time winner of the FSWA Golf Writer of the Year award (2011-12), and two-time winner of Racing Writer of the Year (2011 and 2013), and was nominated for Hockey Writer of the Year honors (2011).
Daniel is a veteran of the industry, starting out in 1999 and working eight years with CBSSports.com. Daniel has contributed to various Fantasy magazines, including the annual hockey yearbook with The Sports Forecaster in Canada. You might have also seen Daniel's work as a major contributor at KFFL.com/USA Today, VegasInsider.com, DailyJoust.com, OPENSports.com and Examiner.com as a writer covering Duke and UNC athletics, and his work has appeared on the Minnesota Vikings official site, Yahoo.com and NFL.com.
Daniel lives in the Raleigh, N.C. area with his wife and two sons, both of which appear to be poised to follow right along in Daniel's footsteps to become avid sports fans as well.